The invention relates to an electrical component comprising at least one cable element, at least one solder joint, at least one hotmelt element and at least one substrate element, the cable element comprising at least one conducting member, the substrate element comprising at least one electric member that is electrically connected to the conducting member via the at least one solder joint.
The invention further relates to a method for manufacturing an electric component, the electric component including: at least one cable element having at least one conducting member, at least one hotmelt element, and at least one substrate element having at least one electric member; the method comprising the steps of: connecting the at least one the conducting member to the at least one substrate element by a solder joint; applying a flow of molten hotmelt material onto at least one of the cable element and the conducting member in a region adjacent to the substrate element.
Finally, the invention also relates to a tool for manufacturing at least one electric component, the tool comprising: at least one substrate cavity, the substrate cavity being adapted to receive at least partially at least one substrate element of the electric component; at least one cable cavity, the cable cavity being adapted to receive at least one cable element of the electric component; at least one hotmelt cavity, the hotmelt cavity being located between the cable cavity and the substrate cavity and being adapted to be supplied with molten hotmelt material.
An electrical component having the above features is known from the prior art, e.g. for the transmission of data at high data rates up to 1 Gbit/s (gigabits per second). The substrate element is usually a printed circuit board that comprises active or passive, electrical or electronic parts such as conductors, integrated circuits, resistors, receivers, transceivers, transistors, to name but a few. The cable element may comprise several, or one, conducting members e.g. in the form of electrically conductive leads. The electric members of the substrate element are connected to the conducting members by solder joints. The substrate element may be equipped with additional connector elements or constitute a connector such as a male or female plug.
The hotmelt element in the prior art surrounds the cable and the conducting members in the vicinity of the substrate element and extends over a large part of the substrate element including the solder joints. The function of the hotmelt element is to provide an additional, force-absorbing connection between the cable element and the substrate element so that forces acting on the cable element and/or the substrate element are not guided solely through the solder joint. By embedding the substrate element and the cable element, and possibly the conducting members, into the hotmelt element, the mechanical connection between the substrate element and cable is enforced. Further, the distance between the conducting members is fixed. Cross-talk between the conducting members is reduced. More significantly, the insulation of the conducting members cannot be worn off due to bending loads to the solder joint.
The known electrical components are manufactured by casting the molten hotmelt material indifferently over the substrate element, the solder joint and the cable, in a tool. For this, the components of the electrical component are put into cavities of a tool, in which the hotmelt material is applied.
The hotmelt material may be a thermoplastic material, especially a hotmelt adhesive or hot glue, which, in the hardened state, forms an integral, non-sticky solid body, but in the molten state exhibits cohesive or adhesive properties. It is formed in the hotmelt cavity by supplying molten hotmelt material thereinto.
In the known electrical components, the transmissibility of very high frequencies from the conducting member to the electric member or, generally, from the cable element to the substrate element, decreases significantly at very high frequencies. This is an obstacle in the ongoing drive to use ever higher data transmission rates.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an electrical component, as well as a tool and method for manufacturing the same, that is capable of tolerating high mechanical stresses and, at the same time, has an improved performance at very high data rates, say beyond five Gbit/s without leading to increased manufacturing costs.